1 September 2008

Lethal bows out gracefully

Leigh Matthews has cleverly retired from the Lions coaching job with one year remaining on his contract.

He knew his time was up and wanted to get out a year early, rather than a year late. John Howard should have been that smart.

Lethal is a great coach and deserved to select the time of his departure.

It’s great that captain Jonathan Brown re-signed for another four years. The Lions have a solid base of talented players to build from next year and should play finals if they can discover some consistency.

Tags: AFL, Australian-football, lions
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30 August 2008

Scoreless quarter among Fitzroy firsts

Fitzroy and Collingwood played the only scoreless quarter in VFL history: the fourth in Round 13, 1901.

In other Fitzroy firsts:

In Round 7, 1903, Bill McSpeerin became the first of 110 players to play 100 games for Fitzroy. Read more »

Tags: AFL, Fitzroy
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29 August 2008

Rethink needed in country football

Aaron’s comment and a discussion I had today made me think about the state of country football.

You read and hear about the success stories and sometimes about the total failures, but you don’t often learn about the clubs that are struggling. And there are many of them.

I’m now in Mount Gambier, which has four clubs in the Western Border Football League. Struggling clubs Millicent and Heywood are not that far away. The other league clubs are from Portland and Hamilton. Read more »

Tags: AFL, Australian-football
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15 August 2008

Great Fitzroy goals

Tags: AFL, Fitzroy, Sport
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18 July 2008

AFL Celtic idea abandoned

I thought it curious last Saturday The Age ran with a front-page lead story on the possibility of an Irish-theme team being established in Sydney. The story was also prominent on Fairfax websites.

Today there is a story online, which is far more realistic, headlined West Sydney ground zero.

It talks about building a broad-based supporter base from scratch for a new team. This paragraph is nestled in the story:

Less than a week after it was reported that the league was considering a proposal to create an Irish-aligned club — known as the Celtics — that idea has been effectively abandoned.

Read more »

Tags: AFL, Australian-football, media
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15 July 2008

Solomon penalty harsh

I was expecting Dean Solomon to be rubbed out between four and six weeks for his crude hit on Geelong midfielder Cameron Ling.

Solomon’s penalty is the harshest for an AFL player since Carlton’s Greg Williams was suspended for nine weeks after pushing an umpire in 1997.

Big Bad Barry Hall only copped seven weeks for striking West Coast’s Brent Staker. Read more »

Tags: AFL, Australian-football
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22 June 2008

Suburban football

There were some interesting articles in The Australian on Saturday about suburban football and the future of the rugby codes.

Regarding suburban football, the report described how it continues to some extent in Sydney rugby league, but no longer exists in Australian football.

There was mention of the Newtown Jets playing in a minor division. Read more »

Tags: AFL, Australian-football, Fitzroy, Sport
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14 June 2008

Lions lose the marketing plot

The Western Bulldogs thrashed the Lions by 63 points today at the MCG. I’m glad I didn’t travel to Melbourne for the game. It’s one I might have gone to if circumstances had permitted.

I want to comment on the ugly jumper the Lions wore. Why did they wear that white guernsey with strange stripes and faded yellow?

Melbourne was carpeted a few weeks ago for the crappiest alternative strip, but I reckon this takes the prize.

The Lions only play half a dozen games each year in Melbourne. They should wear the former Fitzroy jumper in Melbourne games as a matter of policy.

I think the last time they wore it was in Perth.

For a club with such a rich heritage it’s hard to believe they wasted time and money creating jumpers that will never be appreciated by anyone.

Whoever thought of this crazy idea ought to be sacked. The CEO should have a cold shower and remind himself that supporters and some players follow the jumper.

Whether it’s Lions, Bears or Fitzroy, stick to the heritage script.

Tags: AFL, Australian-football, Fitzroy, lions
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14 June 2008

The centre square in Australian football

There’s a great yarn by Jon Anderson in the print edition of the Herald Sun about the introduction of the centre square to Australian football, including a terrific photo.

It was June 5, 1971 when Carlton and Fitzroy played at Princes Park they experimented with a one-off trial using the centre square.

The concept was adopted as a diamond in 1973 and became the square we know today in 1975. That’s the year I started playing football as a junior, so I’ve known it all my life.

The square keeps players who aren’t followers out of the centre when the umpire bounces the ball after a goal or to begin a quarter. Read more »

Tags: AFL, Australian-football, Fitzroy, Sport
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17 May 2008

Wilson speaks out on mannequin stunt

Respected football journalist Carolin Wilson has written in detail for the first time about Sam Newman’s mannequin stunt on The Footy Show.

Wilson’s heartfelt, considered response makes a compelling argument against the mindless sexism of Newman and his mates.

I abhor political correctness and my first impression (without seeing the program) was that reactions to the stunt were over the top. Read more »

Tags: AFL, entertainment, media, television
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